Surgeons at Self Regional Healthcare in Greenwood are scheduled to begin treating patients with a variety of spinal problems in the medical center’s new advanced surgical operating room — BrainSUITE iCT — on July 19.
(Originally published June 1, 2010.) The top-ranked spine surgery program in South Carolina later this month will become the first in the Southeast to utilize the most advanced surgical imaging technology available.
Surgeons at Self Regional Healthcare in Greenwood are scheduled to begin treating patients with a variety of spinal problems in the medical center’s new advanced surgical operating room—BrainSUITE iCT—on July 19. Self Regional, a 414-bed regional referral center, becomes the first in the Southeast and only the fourth facility in the nation to use this new space age technology, which allows surgeons to view images during surgery, not only of the brain, but also of the neck and back where surgical precision is critical.
“Having the ability to check one’s work during surgery is critical,” said Dr. Michael Kilburn, a neurosurgeon with Carolina Neurosurgery and Spine Center. He along with fellow neurosurgeons Dr. Sumeer Lal and Dr. Gregory McLoughlin will be using the advanced technology in their practice, which has been ranked in the top five percent in the United States by HealthGrades, the leading independent healthcare ratings organization, for the past two years.
“The patient images and data available to me in this new operating suite will enable me and my associates to make timely and informed decisions,” Dr. Kilburn noted. “This can minimize complications and help confirm placement of pedicle screws and spiral implants that my associate, Dr. Lal, performs. Cervical procedures are also greatly enhanced, especially operations done in the back of the patient’s neck where placement of instruments is critical.”
BrainSUITE iCT is a digitally integrated operating room (OR) solution that combines VectorVision® sky surgical navigation with a multi-slice intra-operative computed tomography scanner (iCT) and comprehensive OR data management. The CT travels on rails over the OR table, providing high quality intra-operative scanning without waking the patient from anesthesia.
Using Automatic Image Registration from BrainLAB, the scanner will enable seamless surgical navigation for surgeons through instant registration of images without the need for fiducial markers or landmark recognition, a key time-saving feature for surgeons.
“Where otherwise post-operative imaging would be relied upon, intra-operative information allows us to ensure that a complete surgical outcome has been achieved prior to the patient leaving the OR,” Dr. Kilburn said. “The integrated navigation system links real-time, intra-operative images with the spatial position of the surgical instruments. This is a key technology that supports a higher level of accuracy, making surgery more precise and safer for the patient.”
The new technology also incorporates BrainSUITE NET, digital data management system. With this system, patient data from the hospital’s Picture Archiving and Communications System (PACS) can be accessed by surgeons or staff in the operating room.
The introduction of the iCT BrainSUITE, along with the opening this fall of the South Carolina Spine Center and its comprehensive patient services, is expected to enhance and expand spine care at Self Regional Healthcare, which already treats patients from across the state and Southeast..
Dr. McLoughlin, a neurosurgeon completing his spinal fellowship training at Johns Hopkins, will be joining the practice in October. He already has considerable experience with BrainLab iCT.
For more information about Self Regional’s new BrainSUITE or the South Carolina Spine Center, call (864) 725-7272 or e-mail: scspinecenter@selfregional.org. The center’s web site is www.scspinecenter.org.
